Please browse the map to find world music curricular experiences from Smithsonian Folkways’ Network of Music Educators. All lessons can be downloaded in PDF format.
In this series of three lessons, students will sing traditional music from Botswana, listen critically to the performance practice and styling of both traditional instruments and singing, and create a game and a composition in the style of the culture.
Students will experience the music of the Bedouin culture of Egypt. In the listening example, they will hear two ancient traditional instruments, the rababa, a fretless stringed instrument, and the darabuka, a conical percussion instrument, play music and learn a ancient Egyptian art form, Shadow Puppet Theatre.
Students will be introduced to the music of Ethiopia through several activities including listening, analyzing, and performing. They will perform arrangements on various instruments, playing intact and together, and will use this material to improvise and compose their own music.
This lesson is intended to develop knowledge regarding Ghanaian music. Students will experience the musical cultures of Ghana through listening, movement, game play, and percussion performance.
With these segments, teachers are offered opportunities to use children's music from Ghana, West Africa, to gain experience with basic polyrhythmic ensembles. Singing, chanting, dancing and playing instruments are included throughout the unit.
These lessons will provide intermediate-level children the opportunity to hear improvised flute performance for solo, duet and octet ensembles. Students will learn to identify diverse musical elements, including steady beats, rhythm, melody, harmony and expressive qualities in an improvised setting.
These lessons aim to demonstrate the polyrhythmic element found throughout in West African and Afro-Cuban music. Students will listen to music from Ghana, Nigeria, Cuba, and Puerto Rico to learn how this polyrhythmic tradition followed Africans to the Caribbean as a result of the transatlantic slave trade.
The Mirembe Kawomera Coffee cooperative in Uganda is a movement designed to promote the sale of Ugandan coffee, but also to unite several culture groups, including Christians and Muslims, to promote a common cause of world peace. ‘Mirembe’ means ‘peace’ and ‘kawomera’ refers to the high quality nature of the coffee that this co-op sells.
Learn to play and compose music with the mbira. Explore the use of the instrument in Zimbabwe to understand the relation of music to history and culture and its ability to incite social change. Lesson includes notations, historical background, and recordings and images from Smithsonian Folkways.
The Afghan Rubâb is revered as Afghanistan's "national instrument." Despite censorship during the Taliban rule, the rubâb has regained its prominence in the Afghan culture.
Through active listening, discussions of cultural context, and re-creating ostinati and pentatonic melodies, students will experience two contrasting examples of the music of the Khmer people of Cambodia.
This curricular unit introduces some regional music of China and encourages children to discover characteristics of Chinese music by "travelling" around the eastern region.
Students will experience traditional Indian music and internalize it by moving to it. There will be an opportunity to listen to, play and dance to sitar music and ragas.
Students will be introduced to the music of India with a focus on introductory terminology, elemental concepts, and instrument identification through various singing, listening and playing opportunities.
Introduce students to the melodic rhythms of the tabla tarang, classical drumming from India, through music and movement. Learn to improvise the jati system of vocalizing rhythms
Vocal music is a key expression in many cultures. This unit focuses on a selection of vocal music from Indonesia and asks students to explore the ways in the vocal music expresses culture.
Students will be introduced to Jewish folk music through singing, playing, and dancing a traditional arrangement of "Al Tiruni" and participating in guided discussions of Jewish history and cultural heritage.
The lesson will introduce children and their teachers to the Kurdish people and their history and culture by leading them on a Kurdish experience full of singing and dancing.
Use video and music to discover the ancient Middle Eastern stringed instrument, the oud. Discuss the history of the instrument and compare different styles of playing. Learn to identify and repeat the different rhythms.
Soran Bushi, a Japanese work song, allows for exploration into Japanese culture (work song/environment/nature) as well as exploration in creative composition/ arranging.
This tutorial provides an introductory view into Japanese traditional ballads or folksongs, known as minyo, and folktales involving the cultural heritage of Japanese mountains.
In this lesson, students will develop an understanding of the mode of Namdo Korean folksongs, as well as the call-and-response musical form. To illustrate these features, this lesson focuses on the 5,000 year-old Korean dance known as "Ganggangsullae".
Students will be introduced to the music of Mongolia through several activities looking into different aspects of Mongolian music. Students will be introduced to the sound of the Morin Khur (horse-head fiddle), the techniques of Khöömei (throat singing), and given an opportunity to play a traditional Mongolian song with western instruments.
Explore rural nomadic life in Mongolia and the highly impressionistic music and arts of the Central Asian steppes. Students learn to imitate sounds of the natural environment through improvised dance, instrumental performance, and throat-singing.
An introductory course exploring "throat singing" (or overtone singing) as practiced and performed by the people of Tuva. We will explore this truly unique style of vocal production through attentive listening, watching video and practicing techniques and types of throat singing.
The piece "Man and Buffalo (Kon Gap Kwai)" by Caravan was instrumental in effecting governmental and social change in Thailand. Musical study of the song lends itself to discussions of form, performances of ostinati and accompaniment, and improvisation of a pentatonic song/solo.
Teach the history and geography of Turkey, focusing on the Anatolia region and Zeybek traditions. Students will learn to identify rhythmic patterns in Turkish music and Zeybek dance.
Students will be introduced to the three pieces of Aboriginal music from the Northern Territory of Australia. They will perform rhythms with body percussion and on rhythm instruments.
Explore the music of these Pacific islands, their instruments and their similarities with other cultures. Practice musical notation by writing down some of the melodies and rhythms, identify the type of instrument used and its meaning.
This exciting lesson explores the rich sounds of Western Samoa. Students will recreate the beautiful sounds of singable melodies with uncomplicated rhythm. The students will sing, dance, and drum in the traditional community style of Western Samoa.
Students will be introduced to the concept of beats in groups of two and three. Balloons, instruments and dancing will be used to explore this concept using the Polka and Waltz.
This lesson uses music from Romani performers to explore basic musical concepts. Students show ternary (ABA) form in movement, sing a Russian folk song in English, practice showing phrase structure and finding and showing beat, and discriminate a rhythmic pattern at various tempi.
This lesson is designed to teach students about aural tradition and the Danish hero Peter “Tordenskjold” Wessel. Students will discuss tall tales and draw parallels to similar characters in American culture. When considering these heroes, they will collaborate and compose new verses.
Featured here are three traditional songs from England that call for opportunities to sing, move, and listen attentively. Each song offers young children the opportunity to be creative in their physical expressions while also following direction in a sequential order.
Explore the world of Irish culture through playing, singing and dancing. Students will learn to differentiate styles of Irish music and start discussing the cultural context of song and dance.
Explore Irish and Irish-American history and culture through song lyrics, dance, and instrument demonstrations. Follow the music and play along with melody sheets and band transcriptions.
This unit is a survey of regional differences in Italian folk music. Students will contrast styles of southern and northern Italy through attentive listening, moving, instrument playing and singing.
In this series of three lessons, students will engage with Latvian folk music, culture, and history through critical listening, singing, movement, dance, and instrumental performance.
Experience Norwegian folk music through a journey north to the land of the fjords and Hardanger fiddles. Students will have an opportunity to listen, discuss, and play Norwegian folk songs.
Students will listen to and play Russian music, with an emphasis on the balalaika and accordion. They will also play “Tachanka”, a Russian folk tune, in parts.
In this unit, students will listen to music from Serbia and Croatia. They will identify the traditional instruments used in this music, including tamburitza, frula, and accordion.
The first of the three lessons covers the flamenco dance and discusses the Romani (Gypsy) people. The second lesson is designed to teach students a fun Spanish children’s song. The third lesson introduces some of the Christmas traditions in Spain as well as a villancico (Spanish Christmas carol).
This unit affords teachers with opportunities to lead children in active singing games and dances from Quebec, Canada. These lessons will offer young singers and players an opportunity to listen to, discuss, sing, play games, and create.
Students will be introduced to the concept of beats in groups of two and three. Balloons, instruments and dancing will be used to explore this concept using the Polka and Waltz.
In this series of lessons students will learn about the culture and economy of Newfoundland, learn to sing the folksongs “I’s the B’y” and “Jack Was Ev’ry Inch a Sailor,” learn a folk dance, play recorder and hand chimes, and create a dramatic play.
Learn about Caribbean peoples, languages, geographies, and values by singing and playing instruments to Caribbean music. Particular focus on Puerto Rico, Cuba, Haiti, and St. Lucia.
This lesson explores the journey of the African people from the Yoruban and Dahomean cultures to the Caribbean through the forced migration of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Students will learn about the similarities of the music found all over Latin America in the countries Haiti, Cuba, Trinidad, and Brazil.
Students will learn about the music of the New Song movement by engaging with the melodies, rhythms, and lyrics of four selections from the Cancion Protesta: Protest Songs of Latin America album. This will teach them about the role music can play in social protest, as well as the specific historical, political, and cultural contexts of the songs.
This unit contains a total of three lesson plans, which focus on marimba music of indigenous people of Guatemala. Activities include attentive, engaged listening experiences, which lay the groundwork for actually performing an arrangement of the listening example. A video segment provides a springboard into a discussion of marimba music in the context of Guatemalan cultures.
This lesson is intended to develop knowledge about certain aspects of Jamaican music and culture. Students will experience glimpses of Jamaican culture through listening, performance, game play, and discussion.
Students will be introduced to the music and history of Jamaican culture through performing various game songs and dances, as well as playing simple songs transcribed for the recorder.
The fandango community celebration is central to the son jarocho tradition of Veracruz, Mexico. This lesson explores the core elements of the fandango: instruments, voice and verse, and rhythmic dance.
Students will learn about mariachi music by listening to individual instruments within the ensemble and imitating them by ear, and through playing an arranged mariachi piece.
Use lively recordings and videos from celebrated son jarocho performers José Gutiérrez &, Los Hermanos Ochoa to explore regional Mexican folk music and culture. Discuss poetic structure in song lyrics. Translated lyrics improve Spanish language skills.
Puerto Rican culture is a representation of the diverse heritages of three main cultural groups: Taíno Indians, Africans, and Spaniards. This lesson focuses on the African influences found in Puerto Rico’s musical culture by studying bomba music.
Puerto Rican culture is a representation of the diverse heritages of three main cultural groups: Taíno Indians, Africans, and Spaniards. This lesson focuses on the African influences found in Puerto Rico’s musical culture by studying bomba music.
This unit focuses on the jíbaro music of Puerto Rico. Students will learn to identify the characteristic instruments, rhythms, and sound of jíbaro music, as well as appreciate the improvisatory skills of the poet/singers known as trovatores.
In the way that rap music is referred to as “the people's CNN”, plena, an Afro-Puerto Rican musical form that has much in common with other Caribbean musical expressions, is sometimes referred to as “the newspaper of the people” as it expresses what is going on in the lives of working class people.
This lesson is intended to develop musical and literary skills using jíbaro music from Puerto Rico. In a series of three lessons, students will learn typical instrumentation and forms, augment their vocabulary, and listen to the lyrics in jíbaroas a means of understanding modern Puerto Rican culture.
Puerto Rican culture is a representation of the diverse heritages of three main cultural groups: Taíno Indians, Africans, and Spaniards. This lesson focuses on the African influences found in Puerto Rico’s musical culture by studying bomba music.
These lessons aim to demonstrate the polyrhythmic element found throughout in West African and Afro-Cuban music. Students will listen to music from Ghana, Nigeria, Cuba, and Puerto Rico to learn how this polyrhythmic tradition followed Africans to the Caribbean as a result of the transatlantic slave trade.
Students will be introduced to American Bluegrass music and Appalachian songs through singing, listening and conversation. A number of songs will be compared leading to a conversation the characteristics of traditional American music.
Learning 12-bar blues form though singing and theory provides students a medium for discussion of the blues. Students will have the opportunity to write and perform their own 12-bar Blues verses.
Use songs and social dances from the Mexico/USA border to introduce students to South Texas people, language, location, and values. Also discuss issues such as immigration and experiences of living in the borderlands.
This lesson examines belly dance music, performed by Lebanese-American musician George Abdo, an example of music in Arab American communities during the 1970s. Students will learn about Middle Eastern music, its transformations in the United States, and basic forms of belly dance movement.
This lesson is intended to identify and explore children's culture in the United States. In sharing this music in the classroom, students will begin to recognize the importance of their music making and the process of preserving sound. Students will listen to, analyze, and perform music created by children in the United States and for children by American folk artists.
Students learn the four shapes used in Sacred Harp singing and “sing the shapes” of “Yankee Doodle.” In a key appropriate to their voices, they sing the melody part of “Chester,” a Revolutionary-era tune by William Billings. If they are old enough and able to do so, they try a two-part version, melody and harmony.
Students will learn to appreciate the process of telling a story through song, while learning basic musical skill like rhythm, singing on pitch, and call-and-response format. The featured song is “Oh, John the Rabbit,” a traditional story-song about a Rabbit that steals all the vegetables from the garden. The song and video is performed by Elizabeth Mitchell, her family, and friends and is from her 2010 album Sunny Day.
This unit affords teachers with opportunities to lead children in active singing games and dances from Quebec, Canada. These lessons will offer young singers and players an opportunity to listen to, discuss, sing, play games, and create.
Discover the island cultures of the South Pacific and their musical expressions with songs, crafts, and games. Uses recordings of Hawaiian slack key guitar, rhythmic game songs from the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea flute playing.
The segments of this unit offer an investigation of the impact of circumstance on the music of a people through examination of several musical selections from the Five Nations heritage (Choctaw and Cherokee in particular) during and following the Trail of Tears of 1831 and 1838 respectively.
In this set of lessons, students will learn about the Gullah culture in the United States. Through lessons utilizing polyrhythms and call-and-response, critical listening and language skills, musical play, vocal improvisation, and the 12-bar-blues, students will discover the rich traditions of the Gullah culture that have helped to shape our American musical culture today.
This unit is intended to introduce students to the culture and music of Mardi Gras Indians, an important African American phenomenon that takes place in New Orleans. Students will examine the tradition and its culture-bearers, listen to and analyze Mardi Gras Indian music, and examine the multiple cultural influences that have contributed to the tradition.
Moccasin Game songs of the Navajo and Mescalero Apache tribes are little known outside these cultures, but hold intrigue and understanding for those who pursue the experiences noted here. Students will learn the cultural significance, key traits, and pure joys of playing Moccasin Game songs.
Open the eyes of your students to the beauty and power of American and world folk songs and stories through the iconic figure of Pete Seeger. Explore his important work in promoting peace, understanding, community, and wonder through song.
Through singing and listening to famous protests songs students will learn to discuss the musical significance as well as the social and historical context of these songs.
In these two lessons, accompanied by music from Get Moving with Ella Jenkins, young students can develop comfort singing, clapping, and moving along with musical tracks, while also developing an understanding of basic musical concepts (beat, volume, notes, and rests).
Old-time music has descended from the blending of instruments and traditional expressions. This unit features listening and movement, as well as activities to explore and respond to this music tradition.
This lesson plan explores the life and music of the Pueblo people of the Zuni in the New Mexico region of North America. Colorful and rich in artistic skills, the Zuni bring joyous communal and personal music-making to life.
This lesson provides an introduction to the drum set and its history and enables students to perform preliminary New Orleans brass band and early jazz rhythms for the instrument.
The following is a study of a musical piece of the rich cultural heritage of some of the early settlers of Pennsylvania known as the Pennsylvania Dutch. This study can be a vehicle for musical experiences through singing, notating, creating and analyzing to music.
This unit of four stand-alone or progressive lessons celebrates Lead Belly, a Louisiana-born songster who remembered, invented, and passed on a legacy of songs that opens ears and minds to the world of the American south in the late nineteenth century and first half of the twentieth century.
Students will learn the process of telling a story through song, while learning basic musical skills like rhythm, beat, movement, dance, singing on pitch, and call-and-response format. The featured songs are “Froggie Went a Courtin,” “Arm and Arm,” and “The Little Bird,” from Elizabeth Mitchell’s album Blue Clouds.
This set of lessons is an introduction to African-American music in Alabama through children’s songs of the 1950s as well as freedom songs of the 1960s. In addition to attentive listening, students will sing, play instruments, improvise, move, and play games.
This lesson is intended to introduce students to the music of the American folk revival that developed between the 1940s and 1960s with notable figures such as Pete Seeger, Burl Ives, Jean Ritchie, Paul Robeson, and many others.
This lesson is intended to introduce students to the style and feel of American bluegrass music. Students will be introduced to bluegrass music through exercises that emphasize important components of the genre, including feel, form, and common themes.
Promoting Healthy Nutrition and Dual Language Development through Daily Singing in English and Spanish. ¡Come Bien! Eat Right! is a charming, educational bilingual collection of 36 songs (19 each in Spanish and English) and activities promoting healthy nutrition for children and adults by award-winning author, educator, and singer José-Luis Orozco.
The goal of the lesson is to introduce students to two contrasting dance traditions from Argentina, the Chacarera, and the Tango. Elements of the music used to accompany both types of traditional dance will be explored.
“Embolada” is a form of poetry and song that has set refrains. The refrains allow singers to organize their next improvised stanza in their heads, even as the music is sounding. (McGowan,1991) This form of traditional music is active in the northeastern region of Brazil.
Immerse yourself in the lively mood of Samba and Carimbo. Learn the basic steps and dance along with the music. Identify the instruments and play along with others. Learn about the relationships of of Samba and Carimbo with other musics such as jazz and swing.
In this series of three lessons, students will exercise critical listening, singing, dancing, and playing instruments to traditional music of Bolivia. They will improvise rhythms, compose a song, and draw connections across a wide variety of disciplines.
This lesson investigates life on the Colombian Orinoco Plains through the exploration of joropo music. Activities include Spanish attentive listening, cultural enrichment, and musical interaction through singing, playing and moving.
This unit of study is intended to develop student knowledge of the Creole influence on the music of various countries in the Americas: French Guiana, Surname, and the United States. Students will enjoy experiences in listening, singing and playing on instruments, and they will learn to study how different groups of people have influenced one other.
The Paraguayan harp is a cultural emblem that represents not only the nation of Paraguay and its traditional music, but also the ideals that contribute to a collective notion of paraguayidad (i.e. "Paraguayness"). The Paraguayan diatonic harp serves as a melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic instrument. Its primary function is to provide harmonic and rhythmic foundation to conjunto music—music of a variety of instruments.
Through photos, recordings, videos, and playing instruments, students will explore the steelband tradition of Trinidad and Tobago. In the first two segments, they will learn and demonstrate understanding of the basic aspects of steel band music, culture, and history. In the third segment, students will play in this style on their own string instruments.
In this lesson students will travel to the island of Trinidad to explore the feel of Calypso music and participate in a Trinidadian popular dance, the Limbo. Students will be able to perform a Calypso rhythmic pattern on classroom instruments and will accompany their own Limbo dance on Orff instruments while exploring the social and cultural context of Calypso music.
Discover calypso music and culture from the Caribbean country of Trinidad and Tobago through interactive and fun activities. Listen to the music, identify and discuss steel pans and the stylistic elements that give this music its flavor.
The Jew's harp is played in many cultures around the world. Students learn about the different roles of a Jew's Harp from dance music to musical speech. Students also learn about the history, styles, and origin of this interesting instrument.
In this lesson are opportunities for teaching and learning about some ways in which music is aligned with visual art. A sampling of songs from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is presented, alongside the cover art relevant to the songs. Several well-known pieces are featured from the wide array of recordings first envisioned by Folkways Record' founder Moses Asch in the 1940s.
The lessons in this issue introduce students to the rhythms of poetry. The focus is on two poetic forms that originated as forms of song: the BALLAD stanza, found throughout British and American literature, and the BLUES stanzas of Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes. The exercises take poetry off the page and put it into terms of movement, physical space, and, fi nally, music.
